1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns methods of safely disposing of waste material and systems therefor.
2. Description of the Art
Waste materials and debris are often placed in rolloff boxes, dumpsters, waste carts, railcars, dump trucks and other conventional transportable containers. Waste materials placed in such containers may then be transported to an appropriate site for disposal thereof, typically a landfill, such as a sanitary, industrial or hazardous waste landfill. While these known, transportable containers may be suitable for some types of waste materials, they are unsuitable for many others. For example, hazardous debris may not be safely disposed of by means of these known containers.
More specifically, hazardous debris, which is defined in the Federal Register, Volume 57, No. 180, Aug. 18, 1992, pages 37222-37281 et seq. must be treated by one of a limited list of accepted technologies. Among these technologies are so-called immobilization technologies, which include macroencapsulation, microencapsulation and sealing. Macroencapsulation is described as "application of surface coating materials such as polymeric organics (e.g., resins and plastics) or use of a jacket of inert inorganic materials to substantially reduce surface exposure to potential leaching media. Encapsulating material must completely encapsulate debris and be resistant to degradation by the debris and its contaminants and materials into which it may come into contact after placement (leachate, other waste, microbes)." Id. at 37280.
The use of conventional rolloff boxes, for example, with hazardous debris would not be acceptable because the rolloff boxes do not macroencapsulate or seal the hazardous debris. Yet, the use of conventional transportable waste containers, such as rolloff boxes, is highly desirable from the standpoint of transporting waste material, such as debris, to the eventual disposal site.
The art includes a number of waste container liners, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,385,953; 5,163,555; and 5,110,005. The art also includes references to various transportable containers for cargo and other materials, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,069,352; 4,872,589; 4,722,474; and 4,124,136; and U.K. Patent Specification No. 1,595,227. It is also known to use pieces of high density polyethylene pipe, capped at both ends, to contain hazardous waste materials. Furthermore, it is known to secure hazardous waste materials in metal drums with welded polyethylene encapsulates. However, none of these known techniques and containers adequately addresses the problems presented in safely transporting and disposing of certain waste materials, especially hazardous debris.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a waste treatment method and a waste treatment system that incorporates the ease of transportation of conventional waste containers combined with secure, safe disposal at a disposal site.